Friday, April 22, 2016

Orange concludes acquisition of Tigo DRC

The mobile market in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
would soon witness a boom with the conclusion of acquisition of Tigo DRC by Orange Telecom, reports ITRealms.

With this
acquisition, DRC prides itself as the largest mobile market in Central and West
Africa, after Nigeria, just as this came less than three months after signing
an agreement with Millicom.

ITRealms reports
that with a population of more than 80 million people and a relatively low
mobile penetration rate of 50 per cent of the population, the country offers
considerable growth potential for Orange.

The consolidation of Orange and Tigo operations in the DRC, ITRealms reports, would enable Orange to
strengthen its presence in the country.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Orange in-charge of
Operations in Africa and the Middle East, Bruno Mettling, said, “We are
extremely happy to announce the completion of the acquisition of Tigo by Orange
DRC in a market marked by very strong growth potential. Through this strategic
investment, Orange confirms its ambition to reinforce its presence in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and accelerate the conditions in which it can
develop its services through this consolidation.”

This acquisition, according to the duo of Tom Wright and Olivier Emberger from
Orange Telecom in a press statement made available to ITRealms, illustrates Orange’s development strategy in Africa
where almost one in ten people are already customers. In this zone, the Group
aims to reinforce its positions as a leader in the countries in which it is
present.

ITRealms recalls that Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications
operators with sales of 40 billion euros in 2015 and 156,000 employees
worldwide at 31 December 2015, including 97,000 employees in France.